The Bill Lane Center for the American West

Friday, January 26, 2018 (All day)Stanford University’s Bill Lane Center for the American West is convening a workshop to devise strategies for improving health care and wellness in the rural West.
Rural health care is deficient everywhere in the United States, nowhere more so than in the West, where considerations of distance, culture, and environment pose special challenges. Some 51 million Americans live in rural areas; 13 million of them in the West. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), rural American households have the nation’s highest rates of death, disability, and chronic disease, thanks to poorly resourced and badly fragmented rural healthcare delivery systems and a chronic lack of qualified health workers in rural areas. Because most rural residents live more than an hour away from a Level I/II trauma center, 60 percent of all trauma deaths in the United States occur in rural areas. And more than three-quarters of the nation’s 2,070 rural counties have a shortage of health professionals.
Building on previous Eccles Family Rural West Conferences in Santa Fe, Missoula, Ogden, and elsewhere, the Bill Lane Center invites members of the Stanford community and others to join us on January 26 to address the following questions: How can we best marshal the resources of Stanford University to contribute to the improvement of wellness and health care delivery in the rural West? And with whom should we partner in pursuit of those objectives?
We will focus on several topics: ambient environmental threats to wellness (e.g., air and water quality); chronic diseases with disproportionate instances in the rural West; problems of access and cost; staffing rural health facilities; and the urgent challenges that face rural communities struggling to cope with opioid and methamphetamine addiction.
Some members of the Stanford community from the Schools of Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, and Medicine are already identifying opportunities for impact. For example, Stanford has rapidly developed and adopted telemedicine to alleviate the demand for access to physicians in rural areas with no proper health facilities, according to the Stanford Medicine 2017 Health Trends report.
We seek to coordinate and amplify those efforts and make a real contribution to rural well-being. We hope you can join us.
Organizers
Agenda
Friday, January 26, 2018
Paul Brest Hall
7:15–8:00
Coffee & Breakfast
8:00–8:45
Statement on the Challenges of Rural Health
Speakers: Bruce Cain & Phil Polakoff, Bill Lane Center for the American West
9:00–10:30
Panel 1: Environmental Determinants of Rural Health
Facilitator: David Hayes, Stanford Law School and NYU State Impact CenterPanelists:
Mary Prunicki, Stanford School of Medicine
Chris Field, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Craig Criddle, Stanford Civil and Environmental Engineering
10:30-10:45
Break
10:45–12:15
Panel 2: Different Communities, Different Needs
Facilitator: Paul Wise, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Stanford School of MedicinePanelists:
Maya Rossin-Slater, Stanford School of Medicine, SIEPR
Ben Robison, Stanford School of Medicine
Ann Arvin, Stanford University, Stanford School of Medicine
James Gibbons, Stanford Engineering
12:15–1:00
LunchIntroduction: John Hennessy, Former President, Stanford UniversitySecretary Lynn Gallagher of New Mexico with Hope Eccles
1:00–2:30
Panel 3: Cost, Care, and Access
Facilitator: Arnold Milstein, Stanford School of MedicinePanelists:
Brent James, Stanford School of Medicine, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research
Alan Glaseroff, Stanford School of Medicine
Mark Duggan, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
2:30-2:45
Break
2:45–4:00
Roundtable: What can Stanford do?
Facilitator: Phil PolakoffPanelists:
Kari Nadeau, Stanford School of Medicine
James Hamilton, Stanford University Department of Communication
Lynn Hildemann, Stanford Civil and Environmental Engineering
4:00–4:30
Call to Action
Speaker: Bruce Cain
4:30–5:30
Recept[...]

Stanford University Risk Management Department
Waiver Statement of Personal Responsibility
I, the undersigned, who is at least 18 years of age, desire to participate in the Stanford to the Sea 2017 activity, and do hereby declare that I have read, understood and accepted the following:
The following activity Stanford to the Sea 2017 necessarily exposes participants to risk. There exist inherent safety hazards in the physical activities undertaken by all Stanford students, instructors, and participants. I am aware of and accept these risks and dangers to life and limb as an unavoidable part of my voluntary participation in the Stanford program called Stanford to the Sea 2017.
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Register here for the symposium, John Steinbeck and the Environment, at Stanford University on May 10 at 4:15pm.
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Deadline: Tuesday, February 7, 2017Location: Ashton, IdahoPreferred Majors or Experience: Engineering; Mathematics; Computer, Earth, Environmental and Biological SciencesApplyHFF maintains a network of 11 continuous-recording water-quality monitoring instruments called “sondes” that record parameters including dissolved oxygen, temperature, and turbidity every 15 minutes. HFF is designing a process by which the data from these sondes can be transmitted to a cloud or server, from which it can be made available via a web-based interface. The 2016 Environmental Modeling Intern conducted background research and laid the groundwork for this process. The 2017 intern will build on that work to complete the project.
Internship Tasks:
Implement data transmission technology for sonde network
Develop web-based interface that will import and display sonde data
Monitor fish passage facilities, including handling and identifying fish
Collect water-quality samples
Assist in all aspects of preparation of scientific reports and papers
Contribute to HFF blog and social media posts
Assist with youth fly-fishing program “Youth on the Fly”
Assist with set-up and event duties for Henry’s Fork Days
Necessary Qualifications:
The intern should have experience in computer programming, data analysis/modeling, web development, and comfort working outdoors, in and near water.
At a minimum, the intern’s quantitative preparation should include calculus, linear algebra, at least two probability/statistics courses, and programming skills in one or more widely used programming languages. The HFF science and technology team uses the R statistical programming language for all data processing, analysis, and modeling applications
Desired Skills:
GIS and electrical engineering skills/experience. This position is open to all class years as long as they meet the necessary qualifications. Those majoring in engineering; mathematics; and computer, earth, environmental, or biological sciences are encouraged to apply.
The Henry’s Fork Foundation (HFF) is the only organization whose sole purpose is to conserve, protect, and restore the unique fisheries, wildlife, and aesthetic qualities of the Henry’s Fork and its watershed. HFF uses a collaborative, science-based approach to achieve its mission and works closely with water users, hydroelectric power companies, government agencies, and other nonprofit groups.
Sondes, Servers, and SummitsFarewell to Life in Ashton[...]

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Aug 16 2016
The Desert Sun/USA Today
A sobering exploration of groundwater overuse in the United States and around the world has won the 2016 Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism. The series "Pumped Dry: The Global Crisis of Vanishing Groundwater" was written by Ian James of the Desert Sun, with photographs, a documentary film and information graphics by Steve Elfers and Steve Reilly of USA Today. The winners will share in a $5,000 prize and will be invited to Stanford to take part in an environmental journalism symposium this fall.
This year's competition also gave a special recognition to "Killing the Colorado," a series by the investigative website ProPublica and Matter magazine.
Established in 2005 and co-administered by the Bill Lane Center and the John S. Knight Fellowships at Stanford, the Knight-Risser Prize celebrates the best western environmental journalism each year.
Read more about the winners, and see the complete series on the Knight-Risser Prize website »
Center NewsImage Insert: Summary/Teaser: A sobering exploration of groundwater overuse in the United States and around the world has won the 2016 Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism. The series “Pumped Dry: The Global Crisis of Vanishing Groundwater” was written by Ian James of the Desert Sun, with photographs, a documentary film and information graphics by Steve Elfers and Steve Reilly of USA Today. [...]

The Rural West Initiative explores issues of the less populated areas of the North American West – places whose natural beauty and heritage are matched only by the challenges they face. These issues, such as access to economic opportunity, health care, education, and housing, often get less attention than they deserve.
Through research and conferences, we seek to join and energize a conversation between journalists and scholars, citizens, nongovernmental groups and policymakers, about a region that still holds powerful sway over our national imagination and our future.
Each year since 2012, the project has convened the Eccles Rural West Conference to share knowledge and ideas about the Rural West. The most recent conference, held in Missoula in March 2016, considered a wide range of topics from federal land management to tribal issues, housing and homelessness, and health care, among others. It also featured the release of a statewide survey of Montanans on key issues addressed at the conference, and featured a keynote address by Montana Governor Steve Bullock.
The next Rural West Conference will be taking place in New Mexico in the spring of 2017. More details will be forthcoming.
We are grateful for the generous support of the Spencer F. & Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation.
Go to Project SiteRural West ConferenceData Visualizations on the Rural WestAnnotated Documentary: "The American West's New Energy Frontier"Center Researchers: Bruce CainFeatured Content:
Videos and supporting materials from the 2016 keynotes and conference sessions are available on the Rural West Conference website, where we also have interactive charts in the preliminary analysis of the Rural West Montana survey designed by Christopher Muste, who recently talked with Montana Public Radio about his findings.
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